InsaneJournal

[Montrose +]

Alright team, time to face the Kestrels.

Next to us and Portree, Kestrels are up there in the league. Bonafide pros, and a similar mishmash of young and veteran players. With a 7-3 record and where they sit now, they’re heading to the playoffs and there’s a chance we see them again.

In contrast to the other Irish team, they don’t play big and brutal. But this has been an injury-prone season for them and they’ve taken a lot of big hits which seems to have been a stumbling block for them. But unlike Ballycastle their Coach is of a similar mind to me in that he cares more about winning than racking up the points, and as a result they’re tied third in the league on win records.

Roster: Starting lineup with Angus in for Jason.

Kestrels Notes:

Seeker: Lynch is force of his own, would have the second highest snitch % of starters if he hadn’t given it to falmouth last bloc. Lennox, if this was nearly any other team or seeker I would’ve rested you pre-Neep. It’s been long enough since that 94 run, and he’s clearly worked on that diving weakness he had back then but still doesn’t use dives much. I’d test out how he keeps up with them. Clean flier, isn’t a physical seeker or one that fouls, but he will lead you into his beaters’ path so that they can back him up, watch for that.

Keeper: A big injury messed his numbers early on and was rather average for the few blocs after, seems he took longer to recover than expected. But in the last 4 or so blocs we’re seeing him in much better form and he’ll be riding on the confidence from that 97% last match.

Chasers: Siobhan and Wiggins are their big scorers. Numbers-wise Wiggins lost out of that falcons match early and sakura hasn't scored much until that match so they look more even on paper than they are. Sakura has taken what seems to be the most big injuries of anyone this season...in the league. She’s young and keeps popping back but it shakes you and she’s become more and more bludger-shy as this season has gone on. Last bloc was the first time we saw her fly without that. I think she can be shut down with just interference bludgers and chasers getting in her space (Maddock? Want to try and handle her?)

Beaters: Defensive/interference type style that like to try and block lanes. We saw them at their best against the Falcons and that’s the sort of play you should expect from them. When on form they’re great at trapping chasers who don’t know how to deal with beaters with that style.

Final word

I know we’re guaranteed a great seed in the playoffs, but take the Kestrels seriously. Our last two matches have been messy. Impressive, yes, and ones that make the rest of the league realize that we’ve come only to win and cannot be taken down so easily, but also chaotic and full of injuries. People are starting to wonder if we can get very far in the post-season if we keep having matches like that. Hell, Portree must be wondering with the Neep looming.

They’re impressive and historical wins, but not sustainable for a whole playoff and Neep run. We’re not going to be the team who comes through the regular season with a win record like this only to fall apart when it starts to really matter.

We do not need the points. We don’t technically even need the match. But the Montrose Magpies do not roll over and we do not go without a big fight. We’ve just shown that with the last two matches. What I want from this match is something else.

I want a show of dominance

Every team will be watching us now to see what we do after two matches like that, if the great Magpies are on a downswing and clawing their way through the end of the season.

Make this clean, dominant, and a very big reminder that we’re still very much the team to try and beat.

Now let’s knock them out of the sky.